What If
by llerrd
Summary: Read it


What If  
  
A/N & Disclaimer: This fanfic is a sequel/continuation to the anime series Trigun. This fanfic was inspired by a dream I had and all information that this story is based on was found from watching the dubbed version of Trigun shown at 1:00am on Cartoon Network (and just because of that fact, there probably will be little, to no Japanese in this fic. Gomen!). Oh, and I don't own Trigun. I don't even have any of the DVDs! *sniffle* (If you still want to read this after reading the disclaimer, may the Force be with you and...) Oh, and P.S. (could you even call this a P.S.?) This is going to be my favorite combo of themes! (YAY!!) Comedy/Romance/Angst I don't know in what order though...*sweatdrop*...Oh well!...Enjoy!  
  
Chapter One: Upon Returning  
  
Vash walked back to the town with the unconscious Knives slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Of course, he valued his twin far more than a canvas sack filled with tubers, but there was just no other way of transporting the guy.  
  
The town was miles away and Vash set off toward it on foot while Milly and Merle danced in the spray of water from the underground aquifer that had finally been reached through the well drilling. It was a promise of hope, of a new beginning, a fresh start, the water purifying the mistakes of the past to lead onto a brighter future.  
  
Merle stopped as these thoughts swept over her mind like a wave washing over the shore, leaving some of its water behind as it returns back to the ocean, fleeting, but still leaving part of its essence behind. Merle smiled and turned her head to gaze in the direction Vash has left earlier that day. The digging and drilling had occupied the painful space of her mind that had been worrying about Vash, and now that that excursion was very well done (no pun intended) over with, her mind wandered to the question of his well-being. And it sat there, and grew.  
  
She tried to rip out the thoughts, like vines slowly creeping into a forbidden part of the garden, but still they grew.  
  
Quickly she turned to Milly. "So...Milly....What do we do now?"  
  
The tall, kindhearted woman, who had absent-mindedly been holding her hand to her lower abdomen, had a startled look on her face for a moment, as if she had been suddenly pulled from some deep thought, and then looked down at Merle with a warm smile on her face. "Wait until Vash, returns, I guess." She looked out onto the same spot on the horizon where Merle had been staring just seconds before. "It still is our job to look after him, you know."  
  
Merle smiled as she returned her gaze to the desert landscape. "That's true."  
  
The water had stopped its frenzied spurting, but not until after it left everyone and everything soaked with water.  
  
Merle felt refreshed and filled with hope for a new start. Surely if this plentiful a water supply could be found in such a barren dessert, then her love for Vash could be returned to her by the one she loved so purely. She smiled as she brushed a strand of water logged hair behind an equally soaked ear.  
  
Vash was strolling through the desert toward her. Well, maybe not exactly strolling, but he wasn't exactly walking either. He had spent the first twenty or so minutes after his fight with Knives trying to figure out what to do with his unconscious brother, since he couldn't bring himself to kill him, and now had given up on trying to figure out a coherent...actually, more like "realistic"...plan for his wounded onii-san (there's that Japanese....shhh...pretend it's not there).  
  
All he could hope for for now was that the baka stayed unconscious until he got back. Then he could tie his hands together behind his back, his feet together in front of him, and take that horrible gun into his own, much safer, possession. Yes, that was a halfway decent plan. It was better than leaving him to bleed to death from his gunshot wounds in the middle of a crater surrounded by desert...and more desert....and more desert. Yeah, that definately wouldn't have been nice. So...now what?...Well, the town was in sight, and Merle had just spotted the fuzzy, black dot in the blurry haze of the horizon. Time to wait for Vash to make his way to the city. After all, everyone was way too excited and busy because of the recently tapped aquifer to go and retrieve Vash the Stampede, the Humanoid Typhoon, and his beloved aniki from the sweltering desert sun...How kind.  
  
Moving on...(let's skip about an hour of walking...just pop in a random tape or something to fill up the time...or you could just keep reading..you don't actually have to wait...unless you want it to feel more real...but do you really want to? No, you don't, so...here it is!)  
  
An hour later, Vash walked into the concrete maze of buildings with their crude, square holes for windows. By this time, the not-so-twin suns had evaporated the earlier explosion of water and the town was back to its normal, dry state. Except, of course, for the new, plentiful supply of water that resided in its center. (Please don't tell me you've forgotten about the well already! You haven't? Yay! I love you! Okay, now I can move on!)  
  
The unconscious Knives (the person, not the sharp, pointy objects) still over his shoulder, Vash proceeded to walk toward the room he had stayed in the previous day.  
  
Sweat had started to bead on his face and as soon as he eased his brother into a slumped over position against the nearest wall, he raced over to the sink, turned on the tap, and stuck his head under the faucet....While Milly and Merle, who had been sitting on the other side of the door at a table, sweat dropped.  
  
After about thirty seconds Vash let out an appreciative "Ahh", wiped his mouth across the sleeve of his red trench coat, and walked over to his unconscious brother.  
  
"Hello," Merle said, her eye twitching.  
  
Vash nearly jumped out of his skin. "Oh, hello, ladies. I didn't see you there." He closed his eyes and grinned. Milly did the same, but waved. Merle sweat dropped.  
  
"So, who's that?" Milly asked, pointing to the blonde, spiky haired man slouched against the wall.  
  
"My brother." Vash said as he stared into the man's face.  
  
Milly and Merle's jaws dropped.  
  
Vash looked over at them, gave a nervous grin, and sweat dropped. "Actually, you could say he's more of my twin."  
  
Merle subconsciously picked her jaw up from the table when her eyes spotted the bandages covering both the man's shoulders and thighs. "What happened to him?" She said as she pushed her chair away from the small, wooden table and walked over to the blonde-haired duo.  
  
Vash hesitated and then sighed. /No use lying./ "I shot him."  
  
"You shot him?!" Milly nearly yelled, so surprised that she actually stood up, hands slamming palm-down onto the tabletop, her chair pushed into the open door behind her. "How could you do such a thing?...I would never be able to do something like that to my little big sister, or my big big sister, or-"  
  
Milly interrupted her as she squatted down next to Vash. "What happened?"  
  
Vash dropped his head as he closed his eyes and sighed. He lifted his head and looked at his brother again before he replied. "There was nothing else I could do. He would've shot me if I hadn't shot him."  
  
Merle noticed the look of pain on Vash's face. She really hated seeing him this way. It seemed that everything that happened to him in life caused him pain, and trouble haunted his every foot step, like a hungry dog constantly biting at his heels. You couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. Her eyes saddened as she continued to look at him.  
  
Vash obviously wasn't very pleased with himself. He sighed as he dropped backward onto his rear and crossed his arms over the tops of his knees, then rested his chin on his arms.  
  
"Well...Shouldn't you tie him up or something?"  
  
Merle and Vash both looked up at Milly a little surprised, not expecting her to say anything, probably even forgetting that she was in the room.  
  
Vash slid his feet under him and used his left arm to help push off the floor into a standing position. "Yeah, but rope won't help much. His mind is much more dangerous than any weapon he could handle with his hands, and if he really wanted, he could find a way to get away with both hands and feet tied."  
  
Vash was still looking at his brother. Sorrow, anger, and something else present in his eyes. Hate?, Merle ventured to guess. But she wasn't quite sure if Vash was capable of such a thing. And even if he was...Her gaze ventured back to Knives...What would this man have had to have done for Vash to hate him?...Merle got goose bumps at the thought.  
  
"Milly? Could you run and try and find me some rope?" Vash asked.  
  
Milly smiled. "Oh, we already have some in the cabinet, Mr. Vash, sir." Milly walked over to the cabinets above the sink and pulled out a coil of rope. "I got some just in case. Rope is always handy," she said, handing it over to Vash with a smile.  
  
He smiled back. "Thanks. I have to get this done before he wakes." Vash assumed a look of concentration and began to tie Knives' hands and feet together. 


End file.
